Parole in Place Policy for Military Service Members and Their Families

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Jul 1, 2014

Parole in Place Policy for Military Service Members and Their Families

Posted By
Dean Kantaras

Many armed service members leave spouses, children and parents behind when
they are stationed overseas. While fighting for our country, military
personnel still worry about their loved ones’ well-being back home.
For a spouse, parent or child of an illegal immigrant, general concern
is often compounded by the fear that family members will be deported,
with the service member stuck in a foreign country unable to do anything to help.

This is the nightmare Pfc. Guillermo Garcia faced in 2012 when his wife
was detained for a minor traffic violation. An illegal immigrant since
her parents brought her to the United States as a four-year-old girl,
Araceli Mercado Sanchez was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE), which immediately initiated deportation proceedings.
Garcia’s concern for his wife was matched only by his concern for
his three-year-old daughter, whose mother was now at risk of being permanently
barred from the country while her father remained stuck in Germany awaiting
deployment.

Thankfully, Ms. Sanchez was soon released and Mr. Garcia was informed that
his family was safe because of the parole in place (PIP) program. Through
PIP, families of active duty members are protected from exactly this type
of harrowing scenario.

In 2010, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) instituted the
parole in place policy, which achieves the following:

Permits admission into the United States of an eligible person who is already
illegally in the country

Renders a person who entered the United States illegally as eligible to
apply for legal status

Prevents deportation of the spouse, child or parent of an active service member

Allows the family of an active service member to adjust status without
leaving the United States, which would trigger the 3/10-year bar rule

DHS issued a policy memorandum in November of last year that clarifies
the agency’s position on the issue of the parole in place program,
including the guidelines military families can follow to exercise their rights.

Tampa Bay-based military families who are concerned about illegal status
should speak with a qualified immigration attorney about the parole in
place policies.